Brazil cracks down on drug gangs

Brazil has sent heavily armoured military vehicles into a slum in Rio de Janeiro in a major escalation of the government's fight against drug related crime in the city's shantytowns.

Police said on Thursday that drug gang leaders have been seen fleeing the Vila Cruzeiro slum as Brazilian authorities work to "retake" the area.

"At this moment, Vila Cruzeiro belongs to the state," Rodrigo Oliveira, a police spokesman, said.

More than 17,000 police officers have been deployed across the city, and at least 30 suspected drug traffickers have been killed since the operation began on Sunday, police officials said.


http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/11/20101125235552233602.html

Police say they have retaken a sprawling slum area from drug gangs in Brazil's second-largest city after a five-day assault that killed more than two dozen people.

The government sent armoured military vehicles with high-calibre machine guns into Vila Cruzeiro, a major shantytown in northern Rio de Janeiro, in a concerted crackdown on drug gangs on Sunday.

Police said armoured vehicles backed by helicopters, snipers and thousands of heavily armed men from the military police and navy, with another 17,500 reinforcements were "on alert" for the operation.

At least 30 suspected drug traffickers were reportedly killed since the operation began on Sunday.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/11/2010112635513755848.html